It's often hard to enter a children's store without a sense of despair when you see a level of gender segregation that feels more pronounced than it has been in the past. Vehicles, spaceships and sports for the boys and fairies/ princesses for the girls. According to a 2013 ESPN survey, "35-40% of girls aged 8 to 13 say that sports is a big part of who they are." This is a fact that might escape you if you were to walk into a girls bedding store as sporty lines for girls are virtually non-existent. One of the first stamps of a child's identity is the bedroom, "are you a pirate, Star Wars or sports fan?" The choices for girls are often limited to cats, flowers and butterflies. Don't misunderstand us, "Room to Believe" loves flowers and butterflies but we try to incorporate these designs with other things that girls love, like wielding a hammer or playing soccer. Similarly, boys are under the opposite kind of pressure, to avoid anything deemed too effeminate. Starting "Room to Believe" is partly an act of love and partly one of frustration. Frustration because children deserve far more options that the boxes currently marketed to them. Love, because we hope to touch the hearts and minds of children everywhere. Why do little girls, who start out so confident, lose much of their self esteem by age 12 and continue to do so into their teens? Why do young men struggle with showing their emotions? Perhaps we need to fortify our girls and allow our boys to soften.. to take away the boxes and give our kids some "room".
Trustpilot
4 days ago
2 months ago
